Amph [Showtime] Your favorite serial killer, Dexter!

All in all I think season 5 was much weaker then 4, but I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to 6.

So, Deb didn't find out. But they still set a tone for it . . . so here's hoping Dexter tells her in the next season. And it's possible Quinn knows or suspects, and just protected Dexter out of respect for Deb. I'm very curious how the Quinn/Dexter dynamic will pan out.

And thank God Lumen is gone. I think the logic made sense, all because she wanted revenge doesn't mean she's going to be fine and dandy with serial killing for the rest of her life.

Scummy

 

It's obvious that Quinn knows Dexter killed Liddy-- of course, he can't prove it definitively-- and he's absolutely sure that it was Liddy's blood on his shoe and Dexter faked the test results. I think that and Debra gives Quinn ample reason to ignore his suspicions about Dexter, at least for now.

 

This was a monumental shift for Quinn and Deb both. Quinn clearly put it together that Dexter killed Liddy, which is why Quinn couldn't talk about it. Didn't want to hurt Deb. And if he had any doubt, it was confirmed by Dexter faking the blood results. There would be no reason for Dexter to do that unless he felt he owed Quinn one. I really look forward to seeing how this develops next season. They don't like each other, but their mutual love of Deb keeps them protecting one another. Really interesting dynamic. And totally different from Dexter and Doakes. Kudos to the writers on that.


As to Deb... yeah, her transformation into the person who can at least somewhat stand to hear Dexter's truth is almost complete. She's come such a long way from the black and white cop of season 1. She's probably changed the most of anyone. I think next season will be the last one and I'm pretty sure she's gonna find out (finally). But I'm not sure if it'll be at the end of the season or what. I kind of feel like it would be much more interesting if we saw at least some episodes where she knows and has to deal with it. Mostly because that's not something you come to terms with all at once...


Anyway, I though the end of the Lumen arc was good if a bit predictable. I had figured she might feel free of her own demons once the killing was done, and move on from him. That was seriously my first guess about how her storyline would get resolved. I do think it's believable, though.

All in all, I like where this season left us. There was a lot of positivity at the ends of season 1-3. And 4 obviously was really grim. This one is less grim but pretty realistic. I've never wanted Dexter to totally change. I don't think that's realistic. Sure, he's grown some and gotten more access to his own feelings. But ultimately he's a deeply psychologically disturbed man who needs some serious help. That's not just going to change because a girl falls for him.

Not the best season, but it's also not really fair to compare to 4 since that's the pinnacle. I still enjoyed this season very much. Though I am now ready for Deb to *really* find out. Even though the scene in this one was cool, it's *still* a cop out, writers

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I kept waiting for the hammer to fall and something monumental to happen that will keep us on the edge of our seats for the next year. I am a little disappointed that didn't happen, though I don't hold it against the show for not delivering on expectations they never promised. Still compared to the break-neck desperate speed of last year's final few episodes and the ghastly cliffhanger I feel let down this year. Most story lines feel like they've come to an end either by falling by the wayside and never being brought up again or by having some small level of resolution. I miss the carry over of events. Perhaps I was just spoiled by last season's storyline.

 

I didn't think Lumen and Dexter would last, and ultimately the reasoning behind her leaving makes sense, but the way the the scene played out just felt awkward. The boat-ride of joy, following their entire journey together to a sudden bipolar shift in the living room the next day, which seemed awkwardly acted by both took me out of it a little. It would have been boring if there was a lovely smooth lead-up to her leaving him--I understand the intent was for it to be abrupt, but I still think it could have been acted and written better. It was the only point in the episode where I stopped being engaged with the characters and felt like I saw the writers working--saw how designed the scene was. Perhaps part of it was Julia Stiles' confusion over why her character was suddenly leaving that bled through into her performance.

The neat thing about Dexter's relationships is not only how they seem to force him to reflect on himself, but how they tend to change him before he can realize that he's changing. He's a very self-aware human being, so it seems to take a lot to affect him without him realizing it and then trying to control it. Something that I've heard frequently as an actor is "surprise yourself," and that seems to happen to Dexter quite frequently as a direct result of his various relationships with people (Deb, Rita, Lumen, Doakes, Quinn, and his kids to name a few). He is deeply disturbed, but it was interesting to see someone like Lumen (who was also deeply disturbed), supposedly find salvation by physically removing her demons. But, it's also interesting to wonder if she really did rid herself of her dark passenger. Murder tends not to be a recommended therapy for those suffering from ptsd. It's nice that she stopped feeling the urge to kill, but I don't think that means she's healed by any stretch. Still, losing that urge would be a godsend for Dexter--and that's been the constant question for him. Is he becoming more human, or is he simply realizing that he is very human, and can be human whilst still wanting to kill people? Can he find a way out like how Lumen supposedly did? Does he even want to find a way out? At the birthday party he mentions wanting to live a normal life, but I think he realized that unlike Lumen, he enjoys the killing (it's not just therapy for him, although therapy can be enjoyable). If anything, the past two seasons have shown that he really doesn't know himself as well as he thinks he does, and neither did Harry.

And speaking of Harry, Dex is talking to himself a lot more frequently know, and I've noticed that "harry" has been slowly transitioning into what Dexter wants him to be, rather than who he really was. I think the writer's deserve kudos for how they've been presenting that in such a subtle fashion.

I thought Desmond Harrington (Quinn) gave a great performance in the final episode--he really stood out.

EDIT: still unfortunate that the writers seemed to completely forget about the Fuentes brothers situation after killing one of them off.

It was kind of like a candle just blowing out . I thought it was better than having an explosive ending for every season--maybe they were going for open-ended dread knowing that many threads have been left unresolved. Maybe Dex just sailed into the eye of the storm.

 

I agree that not every season needs an explosive ending and its probably good that they didn't try to imitate last year. However I would have liked to see at least one clear loose end. The natural one for me is Quinn. Yes, there's still a lot of ways that could go and its an interesting development for sure. Maybe we will see more of that tension next year since he clearly knows Dexter has killed at least one person...

But here's what bugs me: no way in hell would they let Quinn off the hook just because the blood wasn't Liddy's. The cops know he was calling Quinn and that Quinn's prints were all over the van. I wanted to see him still under he gun, knowing there was going to be more explaining to do. They let him off too easily and in doing so let Dexter off too easily.

 

Well it didn't need to be an explosive ending. Just have something happen rather than everything ending up being resolved. Even something as simple as the 3rd season finale with the subtle blood drip (that also never became anything). Something that made going into this season so exciting was seeing the fall out of everything left over from last season. But even a lot of that just seemed to either go away or quietly resolve itself. Sure stuff like Liddy and Astor got explored further, but it feels like there are fewer consequences anymore. Stuff just goes away when its no longer plot relevant and a lot of it I would like to see explored more or carry over more. Again I am not faulting the show for my expectations, just voicing my disappointment about how much has been resolved or forgotten.

 

I agree that the stuff Dexter is getting away with is getting increasingly absurd. Its like in Smallville or Merlin, where everyone conveniently falls unconscious whenever the hero needs to use his secret powers.

 

This + what Rachel said about Quinn.

 

Without the blood on the shoe, they didn't have any physical evidence of Quinn committing the murder (mostly because he didn't do it ). The circumstantial evidence simply pointed to him being involved with Liddy in some way, so I doubt it would've been nearly enough to go to trial, let alone convict him.

But I guess they should've gotten him on some sort of police misconduct for signing out the equipment.

 

Who's to say they didn't? Maybe he's on vacation again.

 

Unrelated, but MC Hall and J Carpenter are Divorcing. Depending on onset tensions, could that cause a final season?

 

Looks like a real "trinity" killer has surfaced:

story

"Authorities are considering the possibility a serial killer may have dumped four bodies alongside a deserted parkway at a beach on New York's Long Island...The case bares striking similarities to the 2006 unsolved murders of four prostitutes whose bodies were found behind a strip of Atlantic City motels known for drugs and prostitution."

 

Their statement said it was "amicable," so no.

 

That sucks about Hall and Carpenter. Good to hear it's amicable, though, otherwise it would be really bad for the show. They're both talented pros, though. At least she didn't pull a John Edwards and ditch him while he was in chemo.

Absolutely. I have made the Smallville analogy to my mom (who's a big fan of both shows) several times. Though I really don't think it's anything new to Dexter. The show used to have a bad habit of *conveniently* making any of the people who found out about Dexter ruthless killers whom he could justifiably murder (Lila, the imitation Bay Harbor Butcher, etc).

Now that he's killed some non-killers, the coincidences are just of different types. Now it's just that everyone around him is an idiot apparently Really, it's not his own actions that are terribly suspicious, though. Letting Quinn off the hook is the sort of thing I mean. When other threats to Dexter outside of himself are dropped.

And Evan, I know that they don't have anything on Quinn for murder. But they absolutely would have a lot of questions for him regarding what he'd been talking to Liddy about and why his fingerprints were all over Liddy's van. It would be very hard for them to think he knew absolutely nothing about what Liddy might have been up to. I would have expected the writers to at least make Quinn come up with a cover story of some sort.


I thought the end of this episode was profoundly sad. I think Dexter's in a worse place than he was at the beginning of the series. Then he had no human connections, but was okay with it. We thought for a long time that the story of the show was a story of him realizing his humanity and being better off for it. Now it's been cemented that really the story (thus far anyway) is that, as Asterix said, he has realized his humanity and gotten in touch with his attachments to people... only to realize he is still a killer. He's closer to people than ever, but also more alone than ever.

I really hope Deb finds out.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Season six! And aren't the knicker wetters going like mad over the lack of season five in the teaser.

Colin Hanks, son of Tom, plays a part.

And the Deb/Dex relationship... Comes to a head?

Ether way, it's coming together.

 

Season 6 Trailer should be hyped in here more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvGslI_KcM

 

It does look good. Still hoping it's not based on the book though.

And still hoping Astor and/or Deb finds out.

 

It hasn't followed the books since season 1.


Also, I didn't know EJO was cast.

 

I didn't see Quinn anywhere in that trailer (although it was a long series of smash cuts). Maybe the drop of blood is a signal of who is getting killed off in the next season?

 

Hammertime!

It's a given that blocked out contained spoilers, but still.... Spoilers.

Great first episode for this season. No clear plot as such, but it sucks you in still. The first scene nearly fools you so well, but we should expect that from this show by now. Love the escaping snakes. Love the.... new love interest? Love Angels hot sister. High school Dexter is a dork. but all of that rocked. Blonde lab geek is hot, can't believe she was runner up. Promotions abound. Who's the gunman though I wonder? Is he gonna been important.

 

The season premiere isn't until a week from now. Have you already seen it?

 

On the other hand, how often do press releases announce that a relationship did not end amicably?

 

I saw it was leaked somewhere, I think they leak it intentionally, seeing as the first episode of each season seems to have been leaked.